MAN Produces 1000th Electric Bus

Munich, Germany- MAN Truck & Bus SE., an Europe's commercial vehicles manufacturers, the 1,000th MAN Lion's City E rolled off the production line at the MAN plant in Starachowice, Poland. The Lion's City 12 E will take passengers in the greater Madrid area to their destinations safely, comfortably, and sustainably. The eBus was ordered by the transport company Auto Periferia S.A., a subsidiary of the Spanish Grupo Ruiz.

Mr. Barbaros Oktay, Head of Bus at MAN Truck & Bus, said that, In Starachowice, Poland, series production of our battery-powered city buses successfully began over three years ago, at the start of October 2020. Since then, an increasing number of eBuses have been consistently coming off the assembly line. We owe success to a fantastic team that works really hard and consistently produces top-notch results. Additionally, in recent years, our Polish plant has transformed into a center of competence for electric city buses. MAN Truck & Bus has made significant investments in eMobility and taken great care to prepare its workforce and manufacturing facilities for the demands of electric mobility in order to be ready to take this developmental step. This was a crucial investment for us because of the expanding market for eBuses.

Mr. Robert Katzer, Head of Sales & Product Bus at MAN Truck & Bus, said that, Because more and more public transportation companies are utilizing fully electric vehicles like the MAN Lion's City E and converting to an emission-free bus fleet. In Europe, the city bus is already in use with great success. Every day, its dependability, range, and comfort astound operators, drivers, and passengers. "Orders, such as the one from Grupo Ruiz, and the demand from our clients plainly illustrate that our Lion's City E is getting more and more popular.

Grupo Ruiz - incidentally the first Spanish customer to order MAN electric buses - also already has 20 MAN eBuses in operation, and plans to have 60 vehicles by the end of 2023. In the meantime, however, the company is by no means the only public transport operator in Spain to rely on the MAN Lion's City E - on the contrary: to date, more than 175 MAN eBuses have been ordered for Spanish cities such as Alicante, Badajoz, Bilbao, Cáceres, Leganés, Málaga, Melilla, San Sebastián, and Valencia. The majority of the vehicles are to be delivered and put into service this year. "Especially in the big cities, there is a demand for city buses that are emission-free and quiet on the road - like our eBus," says Katzer.

But it's not "only" in Spain that eBuses are increasingly seen making their rounds in the cities. Scandinavia in particular is regarded as one of the pioneers when it comes to electromobility. This is also reflected in the order figures: By the end of 2023, more than 370 electrically powered MAN city buses are expected to be in operation here. The latest orders include 45 MAN Lion's City 12 E buses ordered by VIKINGBUS Danmark A/S. In the future, the transport company will operate routes in Copenhagen as well as in Frederiksberg, Lyngby, Greve, and Høje Taastrup in Denmark. Anchersen A/S had already ordered 25 eBuses from MAN in 2021, which are now in use on the central Copenhagen bus route 7A. "But our MAN Lion's City E has also been excellently received in Norway and Sweden. For example, the Norwegian transport operator Unibuss, among others, has ordered 76 MAN Lion's City E from us," says Katzer.

Verkehrsbetriebe Hamburg-Holstein (VHH) purchased 17 MAN Lion's City E at the end of 2019 - one year before the start of production - giving MAN Truck & Bus its first eBus order. Since that time, VHH has continued to work toward having a bus fleet with zero emissions. The following order included 20 more electric buses. For the third time in 2022, VHH chose to purchase eBuses from MAN; the contract includes 30 eSolobuses and 6 eArticulated buses. The most recent order from this year calls for MAN Truck & Bus to deliver up to 100 additional electric buses.